Arandel goes a long way to protect his identity, from performing behind a sheet to posing for publicity shot whilst wearing a mask. With his first album, In D, released last year on InFiné, he aimed to create a techno-infused record using only sounds of real instruments which he had sampled himself. Followed a string of remix digital EPs which are now about to be collected onto an album, due to be released in the coming weeks. Here, he talks about the need to remain anonymous, the challenges of working with real instruments, his influences and what Arandel could be like as a live formation.

Arandel, you have chosen to remain anonymous, even going to the extend of deejaying from behind a sheet so the crowd can’t see you, and posing for pictures hiding behind a mask. Do you think that people knowing who you are would alter the way they perceive your music? Isn’t this a bit of an old techno cliché?
It’s kind of a techno tradition. But I wouldn’t call it a cliché. We all know today that nothings sells music better than image. As a musician, I’m just questioning this fact. Do I want to compose music only to create an opportunity to speak about myself, to show my face on pictures, get famous and have people talking about me rather than focusing on the music itself? Music is getting a promotional bonus in the process of selling an image. And that feels so wrong to me. Arandel’s approach is all about getting rid of tricks. Whether digital plug-ins, or stage fireworks. In this sense, Arandel is the anti-Lady Gaga.

I’ve been told many times when we were still working on the album, that in 2010 where image rules everything, this approach was a commercial suicide. It turns out that it’s not. Every single interview I gave start with this question. And when the image issue is cleared, we can start talking about what really matters, or at least what I’m here to talk about: music. And it happens that in the end, people still do care about music.

You released your first album, In D, earlier this year. How long did you take to write it and record it?
About two years. Although we spent loads of time on the mastering, the production part was of course the biggest part of it. I think in some ways, I kinda work as an impressionist painter, touches here and there, variations to variations. I like to take my time. I think the most important part of composing music, is more the time you take listening to it than the time you spend on composing.

You choose to only use sounds of real instruments that you had sampled yourself, with no MIDI or synthetic sounds, to create “music in an authentic and honest way” according to the press release. How did you go about to do this, and was it a difficult constraint to keep to?
Probably because I have a taste for challenges, and most definitely for constraints. And to be honest, I couldn’t produce in any other way. I don’t own any midi equipment; I still don’t even know how to use Logic. Technologic progress has this pervert effect to make everything look easy to do, and especially easier to reproduce. And most of the time, constraints work better on creativity than easiness. So I wouldn’t say technology is not my friend, but I guess I’m just not a geek, after all. I just have a thing with instruments, I’m truly in love with them. They’re like characters, they have their own personality. I like thinking of the composer as a film director: he casts characters, and they tell his stories. Sometimes you can even let the recording run, and let the instrument speaks by itself. That’s usually where the most beautiful, unexpected and honest things happen.

Is this something that you expect to take further, perhaps by working with other musicians, or can you see yourself use electronics and synthetic sounds in the future?
I do use electronic and synthetic sounds, of course. I just like them better as analog. And of course I’ll take all of this further, especially working with chance, to meet more of the unexpected. Working with musicians is also a great way to play with chance, because when improvising, you never know what one will do, or will react to things that happen. It’s all about experiencing the moment. And that’s precisely what experimental music is all about, isn’t it?

You’ve released the album on InFiné, which is growing to be a very interesting label. How did you get to work with them?
Agoria contacted me after a track I sent him, he offered to release it on InFiné as a single. It then became an EP, then a mini-LP. Eventually, I had enough tracks to release an album. It feels right to work with InFiné, there probably wasn’t a better label to defend a project like Arandel.

The album is at time reminiscent of the work of Murcof, especially in the early stages of the record, in the way you seem to combine elements of classical music and techno. Was his work part of what inspired you while working on the album, and who else has been influential in you making music?
Actually yes, he was. By the time I started working on this project, I only knew a couple of tracks of his. I still haven’t heard all of his releases by the way, saving the treats for later. I also was very impressed by the work of James Holden and Rechenzentrum, the way they use very short sounds and get emotions out of abstraction. Arvo Pärt also had a very strong influence on me, especially his vocal pieces. I like psychedelia better than Krautrock and I’m also a big fan of ghetto house.

The album title is quite an obvious reference to Terry Riley’s In C, and your music also appears to be referencing the work of minimalists such as Riley or Steve Reich, especially on In D#3. In what ways did In C especially influenced your work on this album? Was the fact that Riley’s piece is very free in structure, and can be performed by different types of formations in various ways something that you were interested investigating?
Indeed. It was so totally different to everything I was listening to at the time I first heard it… I mean writing songs is a pattern thing. You only have a few latitudes in the structure of a pop song. Composing is a game, and when it comes to pop songs, the rules are ancestrally simple but actually kind of limited: it’s about combining a verse with a chorus, and possibly a bridge from time to time. Then in 1964 Terry Riley composes In C, and suddenly you’re invited to a whole new game. Music becomes a flow, repeating patterns and though always changing, musicians are invited to stop playing and listen to the music played when they feel like it… Forty years on, the thing is still new. It’s avant-garde, and still accessible: the perfect match.

The title of Arandel’s album In D and some parts of the music itself (instrumentation, rhythmical patterns) are more like a nod, or a tribute to the work of Riley. But it could never be taken for something claiming filiations with Riley’s work. Arandel’s music is definitely traditional in its structure.

On In D#6, you worked with Fredo Viola, who provides vocals on the track. How did you get together with him, and what made you decide to use vocals on this particular track?
We “met” through myspace, actually, a couple of years ago. I offered him to join me on a sort of international ‘cadavre exquis’. I improvised the instrumental parts that I recorded in one take, sent him over, and he improvised the vocal parts in his own studio in Woodstock. Improvisations were almost non-edited to make sure we kept the spontaneity of the recording. It’s actually not the only track of the album that features vocals, but in others, they’re kind of as layers in the background. In D#6 is the only one which uses the voice as a solo instrument. We actually played this one live at the Carrière du Normandoux, for the InFiné Workshop last summer. Fredo Viola joined us on stage to improvise a whole new version; it was a very special moment.

Would you be tempted to work with more vocalists in the future, or involve other musicians? Do you have anybody you would particularly want to work with?
Not especially with vocalists. Vocals are tricky, because they tend to bring out ego in the music. And that’s precisely what I’m trying to put aside. The fantasy of working something out with Brian Eno is growing on me at the moment. But even if I’m not ‘fanatic’ of his music, his musical approach impresses me so much, that I’m sure I’d feel like a four years old kid lost in Yale. If he agreed to lecture me, I’m sure I could learn a lot from him.

In D has been rather well received by the press from what I’ve read. Did you expect such positive reaction, and how did you react to it?
Pleased, flattered, and also challenged. In the last two years, I got so deeply involved in the process of making this album, I still haven’t had a chance to step back and realize what the album sounds like. But as great as press feedbacks is, and as much praise we received, I can only see it as an encouragement to continue, and take this project a step further.

You are releasing three digital EPs of remixes by the likes of Sinner DC, Michael Forza or Bruno Pronsato. The EPs will be compiled into a companion album to In D. How did the whole project come up, and how did you choose the people you wanted to remix your music?
These were a mix of some of my wishes, and mostly Agoria’s suggestions. Agoria has a thing for casting the right people at the right place. So far I’m thrilled with every remix that’s been done.

Why releasing these in separate EPs first, and why going for digital-only releases?
That’s a very interesting question that should be asked to the label itself. Especially since I only buy vinyl releases. God works in mysterious ways, right? I should ask them someday….

Since the album was recorded from real instruments, would you consider touring, and how do you think this would work, especially if you want to retain your anonymity?
Being on stage doesn’t expose me as a person. I’m just someone amongst others, working for the Arandel project. Then I’m totally OK with the idea of performing Arandel live. We’re doing this with a great friend of mine, and the idea is to have different performers every night, and most importantly not to talk them too much into what they should do, and let things happen. We both use laptops and controllers, and also lots of acoustic instruments, electronic toys and various devices that are also available for the other performers to play with when they feel like it.

You have put together a couple of podcasts and mixes in which you brought together Arvo Pärt, Steve Reich, Four Tet, Aphex Twin, Hot Chip, Fredo Viola, Hercules & Love Affair or Britney Spears. Do these reflect what you play in your DJ sets?
Absolutely. Although, I’m not a clubber myself, and I don’t have much of a club culture. This is still all new to me. I guess it’s a good thing, because it kind of makes my own sound in the end, but I barely can figure out what clubbers want. Yet I’m working on it.

How do you see Arandel evolve as a project in the future? Do you already have an idea of what your next record will sound like for instance, and in which direction you want to take the project beyond that?
Probably work a little more on structures. I’m fascinated by those very long tracks at the moment, I wish I could do one some day. Three years ago, I thought I could not do instrumental music. So maybe I can beat Joanna Newsom and release a five-records box set, with only one song. Or not.

Email interview November 2010. Thank you to Arandel and Julien.

Arandel (MySpace) | InFiné